The evolution of the world of golf

“My wife and I bought into a lifestyle,” Cowell said. “I didn’t buy a membership at this club to make money.”

Longtime consultant Steve Graves, who has run Creative Golf Marketing for 23 years while consulting 1,200 private clubs, said he believes country clubs have “a bright, bright future” if they dispatch their stodginess, increase the camaraderie among members, and pay special attention to family programming, be it on the course or at the pool.

“The outside world is moving at light speed,” Graves said. “The world inside the club is still about wearing a sport coat to dinner. That’s gone. It’s gone forever.”

Families, Graves said, remain one of golf’s most important untapped resources.

“I had an old golf pro give me some advice a long time ago,” Graves said. “Take care of the women and take care of the kids, and if you do that you can tell the men to go to hell.”